They finally reach the street where the park was on hopefully when they got there, Min would be distracted by the stream, the birds, and the people.
Bolin notices people staring at Bolin and Mako, for Min was still screaming at the top of her lungs. "People are staring," he murmurs to Mako as they walk down the street.
"So?" Mako questions, "Who cares what they think?"
Just then, they finally get to the park. With its luscious green grass, and the stream under the bridge with the fountain in the center of it all. And to their amazement, Min stops crying when Mako puts her down on the soft grass. The look on her face was as if she was in a different world. She was actively crawling all over, that Mako had to slow her down.
Both breathe out a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness," Bolin says. "Hopefully she stays preoccupied."
"I think she will," he smiles down at his little girl as she tries catching a butterfly in flight. He always knew his daughter was beautiful but when she was smiling like she was now; she looked even more gorgeous, just like her mother.
He then thought of how much he missed being with Korra. Being a cop and her being the Avatar plus taking care of Min, they hardly had time to themselves. Maybe he would do something special for her tonight. Mako didn't know what yet.
"Slow down there Min!" Bolin shouts, making Mako snap out of his thought of Korra. Just as she starts running towards something, Bolin catches her in time before she fell. "Be careful there." Bolin decides to take her and throw her up in the air, catching her as she made her way down to the earth.
"Bolin! Be careful with her!" But Mako stopped walking over when Min started laughing. Laughing. He hadn't heard that laugh in a long time, maybe it was because he was always busy but her laugh was music to his ears. He smiles at Min and Bolin. "I can't believe it," he tells Bolin as he walks closer to them.
"I know, right? I thought she would never laugh," Bolin replies smiling from ear to ear. "Maybe she doesn't hate me after all."
Mako laughs, "She never hated you, and she was just in a bad mood. That's all."
He stops throwing Min up in the air and when she's securely in his arms; she wraps her little arms around her uncle's neck, an attempt of a hug.
This makes Bolin smile even wider down at her, "Aw, thanks for the hug. I'd hug you too but I'm afraid of dropping you." He looks to Mako, "Mind if we go by the stream to see the turtle ducks?"
"Sure, why not? Just make sure they don't bite." He grins as he sees his little brother getting excited; it reminded him of when they were kids on the street. As he slowly follows Bolin, he thinks of how much he had grown up since then. It felt like yesterday when he was protecting him on the streets. He knew that Bolin would be a great father, and Mako couldn't wait to be an Uncle to his children to help him along the way.
Bolin sits on the edge of the stream and puts the now excited and happy Min down beside him. He notices some Koi fish swimming around and decides to point them out to the curious toddler. "You see them? They're called Koi fish," He notices a cautious look on her face, "Don't worry, they won't hurt you. They're completely safe."
With knowing that, Min looks down closer at the newly discovered creatures and reaches down. But before she could touch the water, Mako lifts her slightly to stop her. Instead of telling her no, he holds her over the edge of the small body of water so should could only touch with her hands. Mako knew that she would be safe as long as he held her.
She reaches one hand down into the strange new water. Min slightly and slowly moves her hand over the surface. The koi fish below notice this slight motion of the water, thinking of it as food, they head close to the surface.
When the fish start nibbling on Min's fingers, she bursts out laughing at the tickling sensation. Her laughter eventually makes Mako and Bolin laugh because her laugh was the type that made everyone laugh.
A huge splash from not too far from them, across the stream that made the fish scatter quickly. Mako pulls Min close to his chest as he and Bolin turn their attention to the source of the noise.
From across the stream, partly covered by the bushes, was a little girl. She was in dirty old rags for clothes; she must have been no older than 5 or 6. Mako noticed that she was trying to catch a fish and once she did so, looked around her to see if anyone saw; when she saw that Mako and Bolin were watching her, she made a run for it. But she was quickly stopped when she ran into the police officer who usually kept watch in this section of the park. "Hey!" The man shouts, "You know it's illegal to fish here, this is the third time I caught you. No more chances for you. Come on kid, you're coming with me." He grabs the child's arm and tugs her along as he walks away the opposite direction.
Something in Mako makes him hand Min over to Bolin and immediately go after the officer. Before Bolin could ask his brother what he was doing, Mako was jogging after the officer and the little girl. Once he reaches them, he steps in front of the officer, questioning him firmly, "What are you doing with this girl?"
"This girl has been caught fishing here many times now." The officer nonchalantly announces, "Now if you'll excuse me," He steps to the side of Mako and starts walking ahead, "I have business to attend to."
But Mako steps right in front of his path again, "So do I. Now, let her go."
"Who do you think you are? Telling me what to do? I don't take orders from you."
"Actually, you do. If you want to keep your job, I suggest you do what the chief, me, tells you what to do," Mako states.
The officer doesn't know how to react at first, until he manages to say, "Chief Mako, sir! I'm sorry; I didn't know it was you!" He stands up straight and salutes him. He was slightly surprised this officer didn't recognize him.
Mako rolls his eyes at the officer; he was acting like Mako was going to do something terrible. Of course he wasn't going to but sometimes he did like to make them think so. "How do you not know who I am?"
"We-well, I-I-I just moved he-here and I'm not familiar with-with th-the city or the people," This officer was shaking, and stuttering so bad that he thought he was about to pass out.
Mako did feel kind of bad for this newbie but he decided to let him off with a 'warning', "How about, if you let this girl go, I'll let you keep your job… and the hair on top of your head." He smiles smugly. He of course was only teasing but the officer didn't think so.
"Yes, sir," He lets go of the girl's arm but she doesn't leave, she just stands there with a frown across her face.
"Now, go back to where you're supposed to be. I'll take it from here," Mako says in his stern serious voice.
"Yes sir!" Again, the officer salutes Mako and runs off to return to his post. Mako couldn't help but giggle a little bit seeing him run off like that. He then turns to the little girl with a soft smile on his face, "So, would you mind telling me why you were fishing out of the stream?" He doesn't get a reply, she looks a little scared. "It's alright," he matches the girl's height by squatting. "I'm not going to hurt you; maybe I can start off with an easier question, what's your name?"
"Please don't arrest me!" She pleas, "I didn't mean to break the law, honest! I was just trying to find something to eat, please don't put me in jail!" She then starts sobbing and soon, tears are rushing off her face.
Mako felt so bad for the girl, he didn't mean to scare her, "Don't cry," Mako says soothingly with a reassuring smile on his face, "You're not in trouble, I promise. You're not going to go jail, now, what's your name?"
The little girl sniffles, "Akari."
"Well, Akari, that's a lovely name. Could you tell me where your parents are?" He didn't want to go into personal territory but he needed to know if someone was missing her.
She's still sniffling and the tears are still streaming down her face to her chin, "I don't have a daddy but I have a mommy."
"And where's your mommy?"
"She's in an alley by the dumpster, we live there." She pauses and Mako waits for her to continue, "But she's sick and I need to take care of her, that's why I went fishing." The child looks down in shame and asks, "Am I in trouble?"
Mako gives her a gentle smile, "No, you're not in trouble. In fact," Mako rises to his feet and outstretches his hand out for Akari to take. "I want you to meet my brother and daughter."